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VANCOUVER — Not that your severely colour-blind servant clearly saw this, what with the green and orange (so I'm told) practice pinnies seemingly creating one team of 20 on the practice field, but Carl Robinson was once again rolling out different formations Thursday.

It gives the Vancouver Whitecaps' bench boss a chance to assess the effectiveness of various looks. But it's also part of an effort to keep his players "engaged" early during the practice week.

"I've done it from the day I've come into this job," said Robinson. "Because it's not about 11 players, it's about having a group of 20-plus players.

"If someone thinks they're not going to play or not be involved, then it's disheartening. I've been there, so I understand. If I keep certain players away from other players because these are the guys that are playing on Saturday and I've made my choice on Monday, then I'm not giving everyone a fair chance."

Robinson has been all about chances. He has yet to stick with a starting 11 for an entire game, making liberal use of his three substitutions through the club's first six contests in which the Caps have gone 2-2-2.

Robinson said he and his assistants would settle on a tactical approach later in the day Thursday ahead of Saturday's game at BC Place Stadium against the Los Angeles Galaxy (4 p.m., TSN, Team 1410) and then go with that at Friday’s final practice.

It will be an intriguing decision for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is potentially giving the always tough Galaxy a different look from the one they saw at the StubHub Centre last Saturday, when Los Angeles pulled out a 1-0 win.

Robinson also has a wealth of player options available with holding midfielder Matias Laba back after a one-game red-card suspension. Veterans Kenny Miller, who was rested for the first 70 minutes last Saturday, and Nigel Reo-Coker, who was kept on the bench, are also chomping at the bit to get back in the starting lineup.

Robinson started the season employing a 4-2-3-1 formation with Darren Mattocks as the lone striker and Miller in the hole behind (two games) and out wide right (one game).

In the next two games, he went with a diamond midfield 4-1-2-1-2 — Laba as the sole holding midfielder; Mattocks and Miller up front — before resorting to the 4-2-3-1 look against the Galaxy.

Here's the decisions Robinson faces for Saturday:

• Russell Teibert and Gershon Koffie had terrific games as the holding midfield duo, but Laba, whom Robinson says has been "absolutely fantastic," will surely draw back in. If he also reinserts Reo-Coker, whom he says has trained "enthusiastically," can he keep young Teibert in the lineup in more of a two-way role, possibly on right wing for the struggling Sebastian Fernandez?

• Teenager Kekuta Manneh, a late-game sub for five consecutive matches, started on left wing last Saturday and looked dangerous, with two good chances at goal. But Miller is well-rested and getting him and Mattocks back together up front seems like a strong possibility as Robinson looks to go aggressively on attack at home.

"I want to be a bit more attacking and I think we can be," said Robinson, whose squad has just four goals in its last five games.

"Even in the game at L.A., we could have imposed ourselves a little bit more in terms of possession and taking a little bit more care with the ball. That's what our focus has been on this week."

For his part, Miller would like to be paired up front again in a two-striker formation with Mattocks. The young Jamaican's only goal this season came a couple of weeks back in a 2-1 loss to Colorado after a nice flick-on from fellow front-runner Miller.

"I think for Darren, it does definitely help him when he's got a partner, to be honest with any forward," said Miller, the 34-year-old Scotsman who leads the Caps with three goals this season, two of them off penalty kicks.

"If you've got a partner to play off, you can work your movement easier than trying to work space for yourself. It makes it a little bit easier to find the gaps. And for a player like Darren that definitely is the case."

While Miller has spent time as a No. 10 throughout his career and played wide at other times, even Robinson acknowledges that the veteran and the speedy Mattocks work best together as a forward tandem.

"They're both centre forwards so they like to play in the centre of the field," said Robinson. "If you're asking Kenny or Darren to play slightly out wide, not that it takes them out of their comfort zone because I think that they can do it, but is it playing to their strengths? No, it's probably not.

"They probably do play better as a pair."

Getting them both onto the goal-scoring sheet would be a huge plus Saturday as the Caps look to end a two-game losing streak before another tough road game on April 26 in Salt Lake City.

"New England aside (a 0-0 draw), we've created a lot of good opportunities in the games," said Miller. "And maybe with the amount of chances we have created, we probably have not scored as many as we should."

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